I met up with fellow Brits, Angie Thompson and Bob Penny off their flight at the arrivals hall after a great deep sleep on Saturday night. After a leisurely drive down from Brisbane Airport on Sunday morning we dumped our luggage at the accommodation as we couldn’t check in until 2pm and then headed off to the Broadbeach Bowls Club to get our bearings.
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| One of the greens at Broadbeach Bowls Club |
Sunday was spent relaxing and checking in our apartments and
meeting old and new friends. It was great to be back after 5 years.
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| ITO Meeting |
Time for a quick bite of lunch before getting changed into our new uniforms and returning back to Broadbeach. At this event we are trialling the use of Laser measures for the first time. They are not in general use yet and so it was an opportunity for us all to run through their operation form those that are proficient with them. There were other discussions around equipment as there always is at these World gatherings. It was then all on the bus to Helensvale Bowls Club for the Opening Ceremony
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| A bit of practice with the laser measures |
As I said in my previous post, there are 44 countries
represented and it was great to see all the players and officials together and
mingling in one venue. There was a great atmosphere. After the formalities of
the ceremony we were treated to drinks and canapes in the excellent club.
Not quite enough food for us growing chaps so a few of us
headed into town when we got back to Broadbeach for a meal and a good old
catchup.
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| 44 Nations at the Opening Ceremony |
Day 1 and here we go. I am based at Helensvale as Deputy CTO
for the duration and with the first session of games starting at 8:30 we had to
leave our accommodation as the sun was rising at 6:15am. Thankfully everyone
made it to the bus on time and after dropping the team at Musgrave Hill we
arrived at Helensvale and got into full organisation mode.
First jobs – check the umpires kits. Ideally, we would have
done this a couple days before and unfortunately there were some items missing
but most ITOs had bought some of their own equipment. Next, on to checking the
rinks and in particular the 25 metre side markers. It is common in Australia
for the minimum length jack to be 21 metres with a 23 metre side marker so we
had to check they were amended. Then on to timing the greens. This is something
we do every morning to record the pace of the green and announce that at the
start of play. It involves 2 ITOs timing the delivery of a bowl to a distance
of 27 metres. Taking the average of 3 timings gives us the pace and they worked
out to be 14 and 15 seconds for Green 1 and 3 respectively.
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| The new canopy at Helensvale Bowls Club |
Helensvale has 3 greens, the centre one is now a synthetic
surface with an impressive canopy and clubhouse extension being built. It is a
huge investment. Green 1 is nearest the road and green 3 is on a higher level
and surround by seating. Both superb greens as you would expect. From previous
photos I have posted, some have commented on how brown the rinks are and indeed
they do look a bit like chipboard and are really solid. These are tiff dwarf
grass which lays dormant this time of year so don’t need much cutting. They go
a little greener in the summer months but are still rock hard. Also many have
commented on the many lines on the greens. Because the grass doesn’t get cut
very often they can mark the centre lines with chalk and they last for around
3-4 weeks. It’s a quick and simple way of ensuring mat and jack are centred and
certainly speeds up the games. There are no such things as 2 metre sticks here,
they just think that is hilarious, and to be quite honest when you see all the
2 metre positions marked, I can understand why.
Duties for an ITO include, umpires x 2 per green, markers
for singles, rovers which are like spare umpires for the 2 greens and
timekeepers should there be any slow play challenges. As the schedules are so
busy for the first few days of sectional play we are working with just 2
umpires and the markers as we do not have enough ITOs to cover everything. I
covered an umpire duty in the first session followed by a marking duty and then
again umpiring in the last session.
At each venue each day, 3 rounds of the first 3 disciplines
of Women’s Singles, Mens Pairs and Womens Fours are being played. We also have
the Para athletes competing alongside these disciplines. Each session starts
with an announcement to commence trial ends 15 minutes before the game start
time. After completing the trial ends the players wait for the timekeeper to
sound the airhorn for the start of the session – you know its coming but it still
makes you jump!
All sessions in the sectional play are 2 hours and 15 minute
in duration. One of the duties of the umpire is to record the number of ends
played at the half way time. If some are lagging behind the expected number of
ends we have a quiet word to chivvy them along a bit. The majority of games so
far have been completed on time.
Each ITO is undergoing a working assessment whilst
officiating. 3 x Marker and 3 x Umpire duties are assessment by myself and the
other DCTOs and CTO. It gives us a good indication of their performance and is
used to develop them and guide us on future selection for final stages of
competition and other World events.
End of day one came along and with sore feet and some burnt
noses we staggered back to the coach to take us back to Broadbeach. The 4 DCTOs
from each venue then met for a short debrief with the CTO and TD – we seem to
have more acronyms than AC12 in Line of Duty!! There were no issues at
Helensvale, a quiet word with a team manager about the number of coaches at the
end of the rink and also a spot of rink possession and that was about it. There
were a couple of issues a one venue that were handled very well by the DCTO.
They also had a flooded green at one point as the heavens opened but it was all
drained withing 20 minutes and play resumed. The great thing about sub-tropical
rains showers is they rarely last long and you are all dried out within the
hour.
Bed at 9:30 shattered. Up at 5:30 again for day 2
Stay tuned for more behind the scenes insights. If you get
the chance to take a look at some of the live streaming, follow the Bowls
Australia Facebook page, link below – the only official link so don’t fall foul
of the many scammers out there.
Meanwhile enjoy some of the photos from the first few days whilst I go and have a cup of tea and a TimTam.
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| Our amazing ITOs from India, Shubhra and Jitenda |
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| Rita Shek from Hong Kong attentively Marking |
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| Helensvale Bowls Club looking amazing on Day 1 |
Broadbeach Bowls Club
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Some practice at Broadbeach
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